Team NZ: Yes, we can win it

By HELEN TUNNAH

Team New Zealand go into today's vital third race in the America's Cup confident they have the skills to beat Alinghi and hold on to yachting's most prized trophy.

Far from being bowed by the weekend's two losses, syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg said, the sailors had gained confidence in their boat's speed and knew they had to keep their game tight.

"We have to put the other races behind us and sail one at a time. It's just a question of us sailing well and not breaking anything."

Alinghi's sailors were given the day off yesterday, but Team New Zealand's crew gathered to analyse a video of their seven-second loss in Sunday's race.

They are 2-0 behind Alinghi after the boat let them down on Saturday and they were outsmarted by Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth on Sunday.

Team NZ did not train on the Hauraki Gulf yesterday. Instead, NZL82 and the backup boat, NZL81, which was also damaged in Saturday's brisk breeze and choppy sea, underwent maintenance.

It is still not known what failed on the second boat, but Schnackenberg said that, weather permitting, NZL81 would be used today to tune up Dean Barker's crew before the third race.

Today's winds are expected to reach 17 knots, and seas may again be choppy.

By Thursday the boats will face more extreme weather, with 25-knot winds and rough seas expected. The boats would be unlikely to race in those conditions.

Race director Harold Bennett was doubtful that today's weather would allow the third race to start. Last night, he said forecasts suggested that winds could be "at the top end".

"They are predicted to be coming out of the northeast, which means we would have to take a long, hard look before agreeing to racing.

"We don't ever want to take risks. We certainly don't want boats breaking."

Schnackenberg said Sunday's second loss in the first-to-five series had been tougher on the team than the first.

In the first race, Team New Zealand's Black Boat filled with up to six tonnes of water, triggering a string of gear failures and forcing a humiliating retreat to base after 25 minutes.

On Sunday, a tactical blunder allowed Alinghi to come from behind on the final run and snatch the win.

Schnackenberg said: "It came at the end of a day that had been a very, very positive day. But Alinghi set a good example. They never gave up."

He declined to elaborate on Sunday's crew mistake, when Team New Zealand left the door open for Alinghi to dominate and gather the better breeze on the run home.

But critics pointed to the decision-making of Team New Zealand's entire afterguard, not just Barker, the skipper and helmsman.

Schnackenberg said Team New Zealand had taken significant "positives" and one negative from the second race.

"Apart from the point, the negative was the performance at one time on the run.

"It was 10-to-one positive."

He said one boost came from the question of the boat's speed in light winds of 10 knots or less.

Team New Zealand appeared to at least match, if not out-perform, Alinghi in those conditions.

"We were at the bottom end of where people thought we would be competitive.

"We knew what we had hoped for, and it turned out to be what we hoped."

One small indicator that the New Zealand boat performed well came from the official race results.

On the first five legs of the six-leg 18.5 nautical mile race, Team New Zealand's average speed was better than Alinghi's.

The Swiss were quicker on the final run, which was where Coutts and Butterworth positioned their boat to take advantage of the lifting breeze.

Schnackenberg would not say what the race told him about the Black Boat's new hull appendage, the hula, and whether it worked.

"It told us that our calculations are correct," was all he would say.

Team New Zealand said they had been overwhelmed by public support since Sunday.

Spokesman Murray Taylor said thousands of e-mails and faxes had been sent to the base. "It's been huge."

Continuous coverage of today's America's Cup race will begin on nzherald.co.nz at 12.30pm.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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